Sushis first appear in Super Mario 64, where they can be found in Dire, Dire Docks. These sharks swim around, minding their own business. There is no way to attack them and they usually won't bother Mario, unless he accidentally swims into them. They also reappear in the DS remake, Super Mario 64 DS, acting the same way as they did in the original.

In Mario Party 3, a Sushi appears in Deep Bloober Sea, and is in charge of the torpedo controls. This Sushi will ask everyone who passes to push one of four buttons upon reaching a fork; one of them serves as the detonator, which will fire a torpedo when pushed, forcing the player to take the path they didn't select. A Sushi is also present in the minigame, Dizzy Dinghies.

In Mario Party 9, Sushis only appear on the board Blooper Beach. They appear after the player runs into a Dolphin. They advance from behind the player, moving four spaces per turn. If they catch up to the vehicle, then the player loses half of his or her Mini Stars; it is then replaced by a Dolphin. If the player is near the first Boss Battle Space when a Sushi is the active fish, it swims away. Notably, Sushis are one of the few characters seen in the game that do not have a constellation based off of them.